Since the half-marathon I completed this summer, I’ve taken a decent break from running. At the moment I don’t miss it, and I know when it’s time to go back, I will. I haven’t been avoiding running, but I’m really enjoying the 20-minute or so WOD that gets my heart-rate up without any fancy equipment, and doing my weight lifting/cardio classes. Read more…

So I left you hanging, didn’t I? Sorry about that. So I was pretty nervous, and when I showed up to Reebok CrossFit Bicocca. There were only 6 of us there for the free trial class, and here’s what we did:

Fact: I am more muscular and my body is a little different than the last time I was at this weight and clothing size.

Fact: I saw a bunch of pictures of me recently and hated them. Hated them to the point I didn’t see any of the loss or improvements over the past 18 months. Poof. Gone. In a few pictures. (Let me be clear: it was definitely *not* the photographer’s fault, but wholly mine).Read more…

I find a lot of times a simple phrase can become a mantra or a reinforcement when I need it most. I thought about making my own motivational posters, so I fired up GIMP and created these for everyone to enjoy and share.

Pin them on Pinterest (click the Pinterest button below the post), use them on your own site (I’d love a link/credit back to foodbloggeronadiet.com, please!) and let me know if you’d like to see a saying of your own in the next batch of motivation posters, and I’ll include! Requests accepted.

When you need to knuckle down and make sure you’re getting your work done – so simple, so effective: “Get to work.”

In preparation for the SF half-marathon, I started experimenting with fueling during a race.

It had been a long time since I really needed to worry about fueling during a race. I think I used to just fuel up with a banana (or half) before a run. One big change from 10 years ago is I didn’t drink coffee then. Right. It’s now a big part of my life (I wrote a book about Italian coffee) in that I have one espresso, like clockwork, in the morning (most days I only have just that one). I usually have a few hours to process the coffee before heading off to the gym, so needless to say a 5 or 6am start for a race was making me nervous.

I tried a run a few weeks ago with no coffee and that was a bad idea. I also do most of my workouts on an empty (post-coffee) stomach and I think running longer distances (6 miles or so), I can’t. So I’m back to experimenting with proper fueling and giving my body proper time to process them so I’m not burping them up the first few miles (TMI?)